For the love of all things vintage, clever, designed, and/or delicious, we celebrate objects and rituals in all their glory!

7.10.2009

News Update at Chikabird

Tomorrow Chika and I are gonna leave for a long 10 day trip hitting up 2 major city in Cali for 2 shows in 2 weekends and it's gonna be 2 awesome!This weekend, July 11th & 12th, we'll be in Los Angeles for the Renegade Craft Fair! Come see us and our new sweatshirts (read further down to see our new design), Patch Kits, wooden buttons, and Plant Pals(tm). These haven't made it to Etsy yet, so get 'em while they're hot! The following weekend, we'll be in lovely San Francisco for Renegade, July 17th & 18th.We got lots of new stuff...but of course we didn't get around to take photos of other stuff like the plant pals, buttons, and patch kits.But we're super excited about these new Chikabird bleached hoodies and track jackets! We got inspired by our friend, Dave, who used this process. Thanks Dave!!I designed the stencil...we love tools....Th process of bleach stenciling is SO simple, but the result looks more than just ordinary!! The possibility to play with layers, time, and ways to apply makes it super fun, since the results can look so different!It's easy to do and the materials needed it is so minimal that you can literally do it in couple hours.Here's a step-by-step instruction, so you can try it, too!Step 1: Make a stencil with waterproof sheet. We used a medium weight Mylar here.Step 2: Mix 50/50 bleach & water in a spray bottle.Step 3: Spray back of Mylar with light adhesive spray to keep stencil secure.Step 4: Use a the mist setting on spray bottle and try to spray evenly over the areas you want to cover. Dab any extra residue on the surface with a rag.Step 5: Wait and watch the magic happen! You can see the color change immediately. It's so much fun to watch.Step 6: Peel off stencil when you've achieved the result you want. The time can vary since you can play with something really subtle with less time, or let it sit longer with more contrast.Step 7: Wash it in the washing machine in cold water right after. This is to set the bleach so it stops the bleaching process. Ta-da, you have yourself a awesme shirt!!

The best part about this process is that you can really play around with the bleaching time, layering, and even different texture. I like to overlap the stencil so it just adds another layer of visual interest.

Oh...and this was a little funny accident I had during the proess where there was a fold.... It's Hammer pants! Get it?.....it's a Hammer...and it looks like it's wearing pants??I think it's adorable...I actually might just make a print of JUST that.Have a good weekend!